Summertime
by MrsVincentCrabbe
Summary: COMPLETE: Harry discovers how a whole world was shaped by the life of his mother. Lily/Severus. Petunia/Severus.
1. Dudley

**Chapter One**

It had been eight years since Voldemort's defeat and Harry Potter had to face one more demon: his Aunt and Uncle. He was standing outside the door of a house he had never wanted to see again. After the war, the Dursleys were allowed to move back in but Harry hadn't come to visit. What purpose did he have with the people who made his life hell for seventeen years? He was married now, with a family. But he had to know and he had to come back.

Walking up the drive, Harry noticed a small blue car with little boxing gloves hanging on the rear view mirror. 'Dudley must be in to visit Mummy,' Harry thought derisively. He almost didn't have time to finish the thought before something burst his hearing.

"Harry!" Dudley unmistakable but older voice shouted...happily. Harry was confused. Suddenly, he was gripped in a giant hug.

"D...D...Dudley?"

"Oh, Harry, old man! So good to see you!" Harry took his first real look at Dudley now. Gone was the pudgy Mama's boy of yesteryear. Dudley was a grown man. He had slimmed out considerably, his muscles less bulky, more streamlined. He was a handsome man with a seemingly handsome disposition.

"Um, Dudley, not to be rude but..."

"You think I'm sick, don't you?" Harry shook his head. "Well, you could say I am well now. Harry, I was a mean boy; I'll admit to that. I did a lot of things that I'm not proud of; how I treated you is one of them." Harry was having a hard time comprehending what Dudley was saying.

"I'm confusing you, aren't I?" Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, well, after seventeen years of hate and eight years of silence-"Dudley shrugged his own shoulders. "Come on in, I'll explain it to you."

Harry dumbly followed Dudley into the house, trying to clear his head. Just what in the name of Merlin was wrong with the boy? Sitting down at the kitchen table, Harry took in the familiar scent of over cleaning; of dish soap and a lack of germs. Dudley set a glass of water in front of him and sat across from him.

"After you left, you know, to fight in your war, I took a look at myself. As dumb as it will sound, I didn't like what I'd seen. To be honest, Harry, I don't think I liked what anyone seen." Harry still had nothing to say. Dudley just kept on. "I saw a hate-filled brat who overate, partially to make sure his mother baby-ed him and partially so his cousin would have to wear ugly old shirts." He chuckled. Harry sputtered a little.

"Did you really?" Dudley laughed.

"Told you I was a brat."

"I just...always...thought..."

"That I was a porker?"

"Yeah, just a little bit."

"Well, I guess that's true a little bit." He took a sip of his water and Harry laughed a little. "So, while you were fighting a war, I was fighting myself. I decided that it was time to be a better person, the kind of person you would save if taken hostage. And I started with body. I started eating better. I also decided that if you ever came back, that I...I-"

"You'd what?" Harry was more curious than hostile.

"That'd I'd ask you to be my brother." Harry choked on his water a little.

"Your brother?"

"I know that I made you miserable. I know I did you wrong, that I never treated you like a brother but...we were raised together. Brothers always fight but...I think that brothers can make up too. If you don't want to accept, I understand."

"No, Dudley...I think-" Harry wasn't sure. He made the Weasleys his brothers. Could he forgive Dudley?

"I think we can. We may never be the closest of brothers but if you can change, then I can forgive." Dudley cracked a big smile and held out his hand.

"Brothers?"

"Brothers." And Harry shook his hand firmly. Dudley laughed and Harry, for the first time in his life, laughed with him.

"I never imagined..."

"Neither did I." Dudley agreed.

"Hey, Dud, where's Vernon and Aunt Petunia?"

"Harry, Dad's dead."

"Vernon died?"

"Well, after you left, I think guilt started to eat at him. Mum would cry at night, I was a nervous wreck watching the news to see if you were mentioned or anything about your war...I think he felt bad that you were fighting for people you loved and we hated you. He had a heart attack one night. He wanted us to apologize, really he did. He did it to himself." Harry couldn't believe Vernon, _Vernon_, had worried himself sick; sick to death.

"I'm sorry, Duds."

"It's been a few years. Mum had a hard time, thinking she would die before you came back."

"Where is Aunt Petunia?"

"She should be coming home soon." As if on cue, the door opened and a lovely, feminine voice floated through the house. "Dudley, we're home."

"That would be Amanda. Did I forget to tell you I got married?"

"I can't wait to meet her. Some time, I'll have to bring my wife, Ginny, here to meet you. You remember those ginger boys who made your tongue swell?" Harry couldn't help but snicker. Dudley's face seemed to screw up with the memory.

"Mum tried to rip it out of my mouth..."

"Their sister." Dudley looked a little frightened. "Don't worry. Motherhood's tamed her down a bit."

"You've got a kid?"

"James." All this time, noises of jingling keys and coats being hung sounded through the kitchen. Dudley and Harry sat laughing at the table, Harry handing over a moving picture of the little family at Christmas, Dudley pointing out things like James' everywhere hair. A startled gasp upset the quiet little reconnection and a breathy voice seemed louder than the most violent of screams.

"Harry."

"Hi, Aunt Petunia."


	2. Petunia

**Chapter Two**

"Harry?" she said again. "Harry, is that really...is it really you?" She was shaking. Harry noticed she looked like she had aged twenty years. She was a little thinner, her lips translucent, her high horsey cheekbones frailer. Her hair was still curled up but grayer, more brittle with age. He noticed that her always perfect fingernails were un-manicured and ugly. Her clothes hung loose on her frame and the color seemed to completely washed from her. She looked quite like a ghost.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia." But instead of the cry of joy or the hug that he had received from Dudley, he got dull shock and a sort of revulsion from her.

"Mum! Mum! It's Harry!" Dudley cried as he inched toward her. "It's Harry," he whispered as he stroked her hair. Her eyes seemed fixed on his face.

"Aunt Petunia...Dudley, I'll leave. I'll leave if it's too hard on her. I'll go." Dudley turned around.

"No, Harry. She's got to overcome to shock. Just give her a moment." Dudley clapped a large hand on Harry's back and smiled. Petunia seemed to take all this in her gray eyes. Amanda scooted into the picture, supporting Petunia into a high back kitchen chair. Harry sat across from her.

"Aunt Petunia...I'm sorry." Harry didn't quite know what he was apologizing for. He supposed because he had caused this kind of shock; or because he hadn't called before coming; or because he was still alive. At this, she seemed to break apart. Gray water seeped into her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.

"You're sorry? You're sorry!" she screamed as she cried. Harry reached out a hand to hold her shoulder but she batted him away. "I'm the one that reviled you! I'm the one that used you like a slave! Who wouldn't even buy you good clothes or real toys! I made you sleep in a cupboard. I made you starve. I made you miserable," her voice was lowering, calming but was still filled with some emotion Harry couldn't place. "I made you miserable and you're sorry?" Her skirt had a dark spot where her tears had fallen. Amanda pulled a handkerchief from her blouse pocket and laid it gently in Petunia's hand. Petunia didn't move, did nothing to stem the flow of tears.

"I wasn't supposed to live," she said suddenly. Harry and the others jumped slightly and listened to her without interruption. "As a baby, I was supposed to die. But they told me that Dad brought Lily to see me and I smiled. They said that Lily touched my hand and I was happy. The doctors told my mother that I was a miracle baby. My mother and father told me that I was Lily's Miracle. Right from the start, I was _Lily's _Miracle. _Lily's _little sister. Everything was _Lily's_. So when they dropped _Lily's _little boy off, I despised him. Something else that was _hers_. He was _her _flesh and _her _bone. I wanted him to know what it felt like to be a shadow, to live in the corners of the limelight. He would be _Dudley's _deranged cousin. He would be _Dudley's _understudy. _My _child would know love. _My _son would be the star. And now," she turned her tear strained face up to those watching her, "I hate only myself."

"No, Mum-"

"Aunt Petunia-"

"No!" she screamed as Dudley and Harry both tried to comfort her. "No. I was as bad as my parents; worse. My parents never hated me. I should have created a happy home for both of you. I should have made you into equals, brothers. You could have fought happily, shared a room even. You could have had sleepovers and camping trips. You should have had all the things my parents tried to give Lily and I but for my own stubborn jealousy."

"Aunt Petunia, it doesn't matter now."

"No, Harry, it does. It does matter.You've moved on. I can see the ring on your finger. You've married. You have a life. A life that I'm not in. A life that's better off without me."

"But, Mum, that's why he's here. He wants us back. Don't you, Harry?" Dudley offered.

"Of course. Aunt Petunia, I know about my mum, about how she was accepted to Hogwarts. I know about Severus."

"Pfft, Severus Snape! That awful boy," she said this almost a hint of care.

"I know that you were pushed aside. I forgive you."

"You forgive me? You can do that? Forgive the woman that tortured you for seventeen years? I couldn't even forgive my own sister for breathing! I couldn't forgive Severus for telling her all about how powerful she was. I couldn't forgive my parents for loving Lily! I'm pathetic! A waste! I don't deserve your forgiveness."

"We don't deserve a lot of things in life, Aunt Petunia. I didn't deserve to be treated like that. But I was and I accept that. You say you don't deserve forgiveness? I forgive you. Now, accept it."

"Harry." Tears were threating to spill again. She jumped from the chair and engulfed Harry in a hug. He could feel the sharp bones in her back, her every rib seemed poised to rip open her skin with the slightest movement. "Harry, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Aunt Petunia, I'm going to go home now. I'm going to go home to my wife and my son. I'll bring them to visit you. My son needs to know his Great-Aunt."

"You would do that, Harry? Let your son meet me?"

"Of course," Harry said like he was reassuring a child. "You are part of my life." Petunia smiled. She shifted her beady eyes, the ones Harry remember peering over fences for gossip, and turned on Amanda.

"And just when am I getting grandchildren?" she demanded. Dudley blushed, Amanda stuttered and Harry laughed. For the first time, the Dursleys house really felt like home.


	3. Amanda

**Chapter Three**

"Now, Dudley's probably going to be very suspicious of you." Harry told his young wife as they walked up the drive. Ginny just smiled.

"Fred lives on in his memory!" she shouted triumphantly. "I could use that to get some fun out of this." Harry gave his bride a disapproving look. She smiled a little more. "Fine. I won't upset my in-laws." Harry spoke quickly as they neared the door.

"Aunt Petunia's going to fawn all over you and she's going to be eying James. Might as well dump him while you can."

"Harry!" Ginny scolded, holding her child a little closer to her body.

"Well, you might as well. She won't be happy until she gets her hands on him." Harry knocked. Amanda opened the door slowly. Harry noticed that, though she was friendly and amiable, she was forever prim and proper.

"Oh, Harry! So very nice to see you back! Please, come in!" she said all this with a cheerful, happy smile and a friendly tone of voice. Her poise, however, was amazing. As sincere as her feelings were, she stood straight as a pin, her hair perfect, her clothes pressed and starched. She seemed to be exactly what Petunia would have wanted in a wife for her son; clean as a pin but kind to a fault. "Dudley! Mum! Harry and his family are here!" Amanda didn't shout. _It would be unbecoming of a woman of her bearing_, Harry supposed. Her voice was pleasant and firm and it floated daintly throughout the house. Harry could soon hear Dudley's heavy footsteps on the stair.

"Harry! You've brought the family!" Dudley sidled up to his wife, firmly grasping her shoulders in a surprising display of affection and gentleness that Harry would never have thought he would see from Dudley. Dudley extended a large hand toward Ginny. "Dudley Dursley." Ginny smirked a little to see Dudley gulp and his hand shake ever so slightly. She landed her hand in his, nothing harmful done to him.

"Ginny Potter."

"Ginny! So lovely to meet you!" Amanda interjected. _The perfect hostess too_, Harry thought. "Amanda Prewett-Dursley."

"My mother's maiden name was Prewett," Ginny said conversationally.

"Oh! I wonder if we could be related." Ginny raised her eyebrows.

"Perhaps distantly." _Very distantly_, Harry thought sarcastically. Amanda drew Ginny away for 'girl talk' Harry guessed. He looked over and saw that Amanda was already holding the baby.

"So," he said, turning to Dudley, "are we going to tell her?"

"Tell her what?"

"You know...about-" Harry slipped his wand out just enough for him to get the meaning.

"Well, I don't know. Dropping it on her like that. She might not like it." Dudley smirked. "Let's let her find out on her own."

"You mean when James makes the glass in the snake cage disappear?" Harry joked. Dudley laughed with him. Petunia entered the room, methodically stripping off her apron and yellow rubber cleaning gloves.

"Harry!" Petunia gave him a squeeze. Harry hadn't felt something like before. Mrs. Weasley were soft and warm but there had always been something missing. Here in Petunia's bony, hard hug was something Harry had never felt before. He remember the smell of her skin, the feel of her body. She had been the one who would feed him as a baby and as much as she may have hated the task, the body never forgets. There was a comfort in her clean, sterile scent that invoked feelings that Harry thought he would never have: that she would hold him with love. She would never replace his mother but one thing was made certain in that hug. Harry knew now that he could grow to love her back.

"Now," she began, "where is this baby?" Harry ushered her over to the couch where Ginny sat. Petunia gasped, "Oh, Harry!". Harry looked to see that she wasn't in rapture over James but staring at Ginny. Something clicked. How could he have never seen it? How could he have missed it before? Hagrid or McGongall, Hermione, someone should have pointed it out.

"It's your mother. Your mother and you sitting on my couch again.You're Lily and James." Ginny sat back a little. She had never seen it either. This sudden revelation sent thoughts running through Harry's mind. The only thing that could come out of his mouth was this:

"Aunt Petunia, I want to know about my mother." She dropped into a nearby chair and just stared, glassy eyed at Harry.

"What do you want to know?" She looked like a woman sentenced to hang.

"I want to know about her and Snape." Ginny's eyes sought out Harry's. He had never told her the whole story of the memories.

"Don't you want to know about the Great James Potter?" Obviously, Petunia never cared for him much either.

"I'll get to him. Snape was first."

"How do you even know about them?" she seemed a little scared.

"Snape told me."

"However do you know Sev?" Harry had to remind himself that talk of Hogwarts had been banned from discussion before.

"He was teacher at school. He taught-"

"Let me guess. Potions?" Petunia waved this comment off, as if it was common knowledge. Amanda got a rather strange look about her. Dudley and Harry exchanged a conspiratorial look.

"How'd you know?" Ginny said suddenly. Petunia got a rather wistful look about her.

"Sev used to drag us out into the woods at the dead of night to pick mushrooms and roots. One summer, we spent three days looking for this rare...thing. I don't even know what it was. All I know was that he yanked it out of the ground and the thing looked like a wrinkled up baby. He made us stuff our ears with cotton and wear earmuffs. Never did tell us why." Harry and Ginny looked at each other, the unspoken word 'mandrakes' understood by both.

"When did you do this?" Harry said.

"The summer before Lily and Severus went to Hogwarts."

"Aunt Petunia," her eyes met his and Harry could see the conflicting emotions. She wanted to remember, she wanted to think about Severus and Lily and yet all her old prejudice was rearing up. "Tell me about that summer."


	4. Lily

**Chapter Four**

"What's there to tell?" she said.

"Anything. I want to know anything about my mother." Harry was desperate. He had to keys to his mother sitting before him; he had to only reach out and grab them.

"Severus was the one that first broke to us that Lily was a witch. He was a wizard, he said. He could do magic. I asked him once. 'What about me, Severus? Am I a witch too?' That awful boy-" Her words seemed to disappear. Harry felt like he had fallen into her memories, everything was playing before him like a movie and he stood back and watched.

_"What about me, Severus? Am I a witch too?" _

_"You're not a witch," a young Severus Snape said coldly. Young Petunia got a look on her face of complete indignation. _

_"How do you know?" she demanded. _

_"I just know. I can feel magic. Most witches and wizards can. Lily just didn't know what to look for. A few witches and wizards aren't sensitive enough. My mother couldn't feel my magic but she could see it. If you were magic, Tunie, I'd see it." The three children were sitting in a circle in the Evans' living room. Lily was laying on her stomach, a fist supporting her chin. Severus was to her right, laid out on his side, one hand supporting his head and the other picking at lint in the carpet. Petunia was sitting Indian style, her hands out behind her for support. _

_"You could be wrong, you know," Petunia grumbled. _

_"She could be right, Sev. You could be just a late bloomer, Tunie," Lily said consolingly. Severus opened his mouth to retort but Lily shot him a look. He immediately shut it. _

The image floated away. Petunia still seemed sour about that particular memory. "She was his leader. Sev would have jumped from the roof of our house if Lily told him to.Of course, that changed too." Harry noticed that Amanda was dying to ask her questions. He also knew that she was far too polite to interrupt the conversation. Ginny was trying to avoid everyone's eyes. He didn't think about how she was take to hearing all the details of Snape and his mother. Harry opened his mouth to ask another question when Petunia intercepted him.

"You know, Severus was always funny when it came to Lily. Even then, before it all happened, he was always hanging on her like a lost puppy." Again, Harry felt like he was falling into a memory.

_"Tag! You're it, Sev!" Tunie shouted. _

_"I'll get you back for that, Tunie!" So carefree, so young. It was when he played with Lil and Tunie that he didn't remember his family. It was in these moments that his father was dead and his mother was safe away from him. This was when Severus was happiest; here, among friends. _

_"You can't catch me!" Tunie yelled, obviously taunting the younger boy to grab her but he had his mind on something, or someone, else._

_"No, Sev! Leave me alone!" Lily shouted, giggling that crazy little girl giggle. _

_"I'll catch you, Lil!" _

_"Run, run, run, as fast as you can! You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread man!" Lily chanted out of breath as she ran. _

_"Now I know to go for the legs. Thanks for the help, Lil!" They were now playing dodge around a large tree. _

_"You're awful, Sev!" She took off and he chased her. _

_"Hey! Severus!" Petunia tried to get his attention. "Come and get ME!" But he seemed to ignore her. "Severus!" she whined. The laughter of her sister rang out. Petunia sat down, dejected. "Always her. Why doesn't he like me?" Petunia grumbled to no one in particular. _

_"Severus!" she heard Lily scream. _

_"I'm going to get you!" He made a lunge for her body and tackled her to the ground. He jumped up. "Tag. You're it," he said simply before he ran home. Lily heard her mother calling for her and Petunia to come home for dinner.  
_

_"Yeah, you better run away!" she yelled at his retreating form. "Come on, Tunie!" Lily said as she passed her sister, seeming not to notice her sister's feelings.  
_

"There's something I have to give you." Petunia said, breaking her narration and jolting Harry out of his stupor. "This will help you understand. I can only tell you what happened in the summers. I can't help you with school but maybe this can." Petunia got up and began up the stairs. Amanda's mouth was half open when both Harry and Ginny pulled out their wands and performed some harmless magic (Ginny made a flower sprout from the tip of her wand while Harry had transfigured a magazine into a paper crane that fluttered around the room).

"So...it's true?" she sent an imploring look towards Dudley. He simply nodded his head. "So you two are...a real witch...and a real wizard?" Harry and Ginny just nodded as well. Amanda mulled over this for a while, seemingly lost in her own world, before announcing "Well! This is one for the archives!" Harry and Dudley looked at each other.

"Well," Harry said, "she took that better than I thought she would." Amanda was now asking Ginny if she could perform a spell that would keep the mold out her bathroom sink.

"Yeah, I was expecting more."

"Yeah," Harry agreed as he listened to his wife telling Amanda she would research a good strong mold spell when she got home.

"Why do I have a feeling I'm going to get it later?" Dudley said, a dead and defeated tone in his voice. Harry laughed and thump his cousin on the back. Petunia walked back in and everything went silent.

"I take it all went well?" he said, motioning to Amanda. She handed Harry an old shoebox. He looked it over. The lid was marked "Lil and Sev: First Year' in big, red letters. "Here", she said. "This was your mother's."

AN: Well, tell me what you think. Comments, flames and suggestions are always welcome!


	5. Ginny

**Chapter Five**

"Well?" came his wife's voice over his shoulder. Harry Potter nearly jumped out of his chair, the untouched shoe box on his lap.

"Well what?"

"What's in the box?" she asked innocently. Harry got a strange look on his face.

"Don't you have a baby to tend to?"

"He's asleep, Jumpy. Twitchy little thing, aren't you?" she teased.

"Hush," he said gently, allowing her to sit cuddled beside him.

"Well? Are you going to open it or stare at it all night, love?"

"I like the second option," he replied sullenly.

"What's the matter with you?" she accused, jumping up. "All the answers are right there! Just open it!"

"What if...what if I wasn't meant to see this stuff?" he said quietly.

"Harry James Potter!" Ginny Potter threw her hands up in the air. "Let's pretend we are in some alternate universe and your parents lived. Don't you think that at one point or another that your mom would have shown you this! Especially if Snape had never betrayed her! Especially if he was going to be your teacher! Don't you think that they just might have made up?"

"Everyone has secrets, Ginny!" he said, standing.

"Oh, and what secrets are you keeping from me then?" she looked at him pointedly.

"None! But are you going to tell James about the Chamber of Secrets!" he shot back.

"Don't, Harry. Don't go there," she whispered.

"Maybe I don't want to go there!" he said, indicating the shoebox, forgotten and spilled on the floor.

"Looks like it wants you to, Harry." Ginny crossed her arms over her chest and sat on the couch.

"Do I have a choice now?"

"Well, I sure as heck am not cleaning it up for you." Harry Potter, Savior of the Wizarding World, married to a Weasley, The Boy Who Lived and Lived Again, was afraid of the contents of an eleven year old girl's shoebox. It looked like pictures and letters, old homework and stick figure drawings. Harry walked over as slowly as he could. He could hear Ginny mumbling but wasn't hearing what she said. He bent down slowly, afraid. He picked up the first picture.

A little red-haired girl was waving happily on Platform 9 and 3/4 while a saturnine little boy smirked. But something about young Severus Snape struck Harry. He looked happy; genuinely, completely happy. He voiced this thought to his wife.

"He was going to Hogwarts, Harry. Away from his home, his father. Don't you remember? How glad you were to be away from your Uncle Vernon? Imagine if he beat you, Harry. Or if he beat Petunia in front of you. How much more would you have wanted to get away?"

"I can't even-" he began.

"Exactly." Ginny sat down with him and picked up a small bit of parchment. She chuckled a little and handed it to Harry. In obvious girly writing was a note passed in Potions.

_Severus, help me!!!!! What's the difference between Monkshood and Aconite?!!!_

Written below that in a cramped, more juvenile form of the familiar professor's hand was two words.

_There isn't. _

"You know, Slughorn said my mom was a right hand at Potions. I think I just figured out why." Harry laughed a little. Harry picked up the next picture.

"Look, they used to climb that tree down by the lake." Snape was sitting next to Lily, their feet dangling over the large limb.

"History of Magic homework," Ginny groaned tossing it to the wayside.

"Charms essay."

"Love potion?" Ginny exclaimed. Harry immediately stood.

"See! I told you I didn't want to meddle!" Ginny uncorked the bottle and saw the whispy swirls rise from the surface.

"Mama had a crush, huh?" she laughed.

"No! No! Don't even talk about it! I don't want to talk about it!" Harry childishly ranted as he paced around the room, hands covering his ears.

"Snape and her must have been right hands at Potions to make a NEWT level potion in First Year!"

"You're still talking about it!"

"Oh, hush up! I wonder..."

"Old gossipy hag," he mumbled.

"Did I tell you you were allowed to speak again? No? Then hush up." She took a closer look at the bottle. "Hey, look! It's has a label or something on it."

"I don't want to read it!"

"You're such a child, Harry. It says...hmmm." She quirked a little smile and put it back in the box.

"What? What'd it say?"

"You said you didn't want to know."

"Oh, come on. You can't do that. Tell me what it said!"

"Old gossipy hag," she threw back."Snape wrote it, if you really want to know."

"Oh, God. It's some sick love poem!" Harry moaned.

"No," she hinted. "All it said is 'Told you I could do it'."

"Confident little bugger, wasn't he?" Harry laughed, albeit uneasily.

"But, that begs a question-" Ginny began before he interrupted her with a earth shattering moan.

"Oh, you just couldn't let it be."

"Was she really just testing him or did she want a love potion?"

"I think she was just testing him."

"Of course you do. You're a man. Men do things to prove something. Women are much more tricky."

"Really?"

"Really. She knew that by questioning his skill, she could get anything she wanted from him. He had to prove himself, men always do, and she exploited it for her own advantage." Ginny explained simply.

"I hate women."

"I take offense to that," Ginny crossed her arms and turned her nose to the air.

"You're not a woman; you're my wife," Harry laughed before pulling her into a hug. She leaned into him. "You know, that love potion smells just like you." She smiled into his shoulder.

"I just have one last question," Ginny offered to her now soothed husband.

"What, love?"

"Who took the pictures?"


	6. Dennis

Chapter Six

"I really wish you had left well enough alone," Harry whined as they searched through the other pictures. They needed a new clue as to who had taken the pictures. Ginny rifled through the contents of the shoebox, convinced they would find something to help them.

"You're the one who wanted to know," she offered, throwing an old Gryffindor tie over her shoulder.

"Look at this one, Gin," Harry said, handing her a picture. It was Remus and Lily, laughing and smiling, her arms thrown around his neck.

"I miss him," Ginny sighed. "I can't bear to see poor, little Teddy like this."

"You know, the other day Teddy was looking at me and I could have sworn I saw Remus' eyes. I said something to him that shocked me. I said, 'it's a shame that I got to spend so much time with them and you so little.' That's exactly what Remus told me once, when he looked into my eyes." Ginny sensed Harry's dire mood and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"You'll be his greatest help," she murmured lovingly into his ear, "because you'll have known his greatest pain." Harry's hand swayed listlessly across the pictures as he breathed in the floral scent of his wife's hair. "Look, Harry!" Ginny said suddenly, snapping Harry out of his stupor. At his fingertips was a picture of Lily and a small blonde boy they had never seen before. It looked like he was holding the camera with one hand and Lily with the other. Picture Lily had to stoop to be in the frame because he had held the camera crooked. She laughed and laughed.

"You think it's him?" Harry sighed, watching his mother's eyes sparkle in the sepia print.

"He look familiar," Ginny murmured, her hand holding her chin. "Where have I seen him before?"

"I don't know; he looks like any annoying first year-" Ginny snapped her fingers.

"That's it, Harry. He could be Colin Creevey!"

"Colin and Dennis were muggle-born, Gin. That's not their father."

"No, but you can't deny that it is just too uncanny." Harry sighed, defeated. He would have to agree with his wife if he wanted any peace.

"Do you remember where Dennis lives?" Ginny stood and went to get her little book of addresses.

"He married that little muggle girl. What was her name?"

"Bethann."

"Bethann, that's right. He's not on the Floo Network, is he?"

"He left the Wizarding world after he graduated."

"In his situation, who wouldn't?" Ginny sniffed a little, cracked her knuckles and kept flipping through the pages. "There he is. Harry, go see him tomorrow." Harry scoffed.

"I doubt he's going to be happy to see me after..." Harry made a few vague motions with his hands. He knew how Dennis had felt after Colin. Colin had idolized him and died for his cause. Dennis had blamed Harry for a long time. He didn't hate him, no; Dennis had understood that Harry hadn't caused Colin's death but he still felt that he needed to take his anger out somewhere. Harry had accepted it; better that Dennis hated him than Colin.

"You have to try, if you really want to know."

"Cursed Severus Snape and his putting ideas in my head," Harry mumbled as he loped off to bed, his wife smiling knowingly.

* * *

Harry Potter felt worse standing in front of Dennis and Bethann Creevey's house than he had in a long time. He saw two small blonde boys running around the front yard and a sweet little housewife calling after them. 

"Excuse me, Ma'am," Harry said cordially. Bethann Creevey pulled her children into her body, protecting them from the stranger. He smiled at the touching sight. "I'm looking for the Creevey residence." He wanted to seem friendly, polite. He hoped he wouldn't scare her.

"I'm Mrs. Creevey," she said warily. Harry was worried that this sunk lower than just fear of strangers.

"Is Mr. Creevey here?" He knew he sounded like the door to door salesman who had sold Aunt Petunia a faulty vacuum. He had asked if Mr. Dursley was home in just the same tone.

"He's inside. Come in, please," she said, a fake smile plastered across her face. She led him into the foyer of their small English cottage. Harry could tell they were poor but clean and the house smelled of fresh flowers and honey. "Dennis!" Bethann called. A skinny little man stepped into the front hall.

"Yes, love?"

"A man is here to see you," she said, indicating Harry. Dennis was fishing in his pockets for a lens cloth and rubbed his glasses furiously for a moment before he looked at Harry for the first time.

"Well, I'll never," he said in a nondescript tone. "Harry Potter."

"Dennis, how are you?" Harry said somewhat awkwardly.

"Fine, fine," he put an arm around his wife's shoulders. "And you? How are Ginny and the baby?" Harry must have let his confusion slip into his features. Dennis laughed suddenly.

"I might not be around but I still read the newspaper." He gave Bethann a polite kiss on the cheek before he motioned for Harry to follow him. "Come on into my study here." Harry sat in a hard, green leather chair. Dennis threw a copy of the Daily Prophet at Harry. "I have it delivered after midnight so the missus doesn't know."

"She doesn't-"

"Nothing. I keep my wand locked in a box next to my bed. I tell her it's a gun." He poured out a small glasses of Ogden's finest. "I order a lot of things in. I may not live in the society but I do use it for my advantage." He handed Harry one before sitting down to his own.

"What have you been doing, Dennis?"

"I've been studying. It was hard, you know, to leave the Wizarding world with no formal muggle education. I couldn't find work. College is everything around these parts. In the city, you need university credentials. I had a diploma from a school which wasn't supposed to exist. It was rough." He took a good sip before smacking his lips and sighing soundly. "Now, what are you really here for?" Harry was surprised by this sudden outburst.

"Why would you say something like that?"

"Because the Savior of the Wizarding world doesn't just go around visiting disillusioned and disgruntled school pals without reason. Come on, now. Do they want Colin's Order of Merlin back?"

"No!" Harry shouted.

"Then what?" Harry gulped. He suddenly felt like he was using Dennis. He pulled out the picture.

"My wife wanted to know if, maybe-"

"Where'd you get this?" Dennis said, his tone serious.

"It was my mother's," Harry said nervously.

"This is my uncle Darren."

"But I thought you were a muggle family."

"We were," Dennis said, "until Colin. Darren left home at eleven and never came back. My father claimed that he died. Colin and I decided that they must have turned him out." Dennis stared at the picture. "My father accepted Colin first. It took mother forever to decide that having a wizard son wasn't so bad. We thought it was because of Darren."

"Is he still alive?"

"As far as I know, yeah." Dennis shrugged his shoulders and took another swig of Ogden's. "So, we done here?" Harry stood and held out his hand to Dennis. Dennis looked at it incredulously.

"Mind if I keep the picture?" he said, ignoring Harry's hand.

"Sure, Dennis," Harry sighed. Harry made his way out, watching Dennis stare at the picture and sip his booze. Harry walked out of the door and stood in the lawn for a moment. He head Dennis from inside.

"Harry!" Harry turned to face the little pale man. "I don't blame you." And with that, he shut the front door.


	7. Hermione

Chapter Seven

"Well, what did he say?" Ginny assaulted as soon he was back inside the door.

"It's Darren Creevey, their uncle." Ginny started to pace back and forth. She was muttering and mumbling under her breath something that Harry couldn't quite catch."What's that?" he said in an attempt to make her coherent. Ginny stared at him for a moment before running off to the fireplace in a furor. Harry thought she was mad at him. "What are you doing?"

"Quiet, James is asleep." She threw a little floo powder into the fireplace and murmured a name Harry couldn't quite make out. Hermione's head popped through the emerald flames.

"Ginny, dear, it's been awhile. How's the baby?"

"Oh, fine. I've just got a quick question for you." Hermione's eyes seemed to brighten up again with a new life. Harry had always felt that Hermione had lost a little bit of her vitality when she graduated and married. She had always striven under intellectual pressure and now she was almost devoid of that kind of stimulation. He could tell that this mystery, no matter how small, was going to be good for Hermione. "Do you remember a Darren Creevey?"

"We went to school with a Colin and Dennis. What's he, a distant cousin or something?"

"No, their uncle."

"Not really. Why do you ask?"

"Well, Harry and I were going through Snape and his mother's old shoebox and we found a lot of pictures. We asked Dennis about them-"

"Oh, Dennis. How is he?" Harry couldn't help but smile. Hermione had such a soft, motherly heart. She seemed to be ruled more by emotion when it came to those she loved. She was as analytical and intelligent as ever. This compassion only enhanced her in Harry's eyes.

"He seems to be doing well," Harry broke in. Hermione bit her lip and smiled at him.

"Harry, oh, it's so good to see you!"

"His kids are just like him and Colin were." Harry smiled his charming, trademark smile that he left only for her. Hermione was like the sister he had never had. The sister he had loved when Dudley used to laugh at him. The sister he had protected so many times in his dreams when no one was there to protect him.

"Darren Creevey," Hermione muttered, her thoughts flying around in her eyes.

"Yes, his name sounded familiar. I just couldn't place where I had heard it before," Ginny sighed. "I was hoping you could help."

"Darren Creevey!" Hermione's head popped out of the fireplace and Ginny frowned confusedly.

"Well, that was helpful of her," Ginny sighed. Harry smiled. He knew that look in Hermione's face. She was coming back. He had seen the recognition in her eyes. Harry laid a hand on Ginny's shoulder and she looked up at him, her slight annoyance at Hermione in her eyes.

"Wait for it," Harry said, teasingly. Hermione's head reemerged from the green flames.

"Darren Ceevey," she said, emphasis on the last name, "was a wartime photographer during Voldemort's first rise. He worked for the Daily Prophet until he disappeared. He was the one who the picture of the Potter's destroyed house in Godric's Hollow. They supposed he had been killed by vengeful Death Eaters."

"And you looked all this up in thirty seconds?" Ginny said incredulously.

"I researched every part of Voldemort's first war when we were in sixth year. I simply consulted my archives."

"That's my girl," Harry said. "Thanks, Hermione."

"No problem, Harry. Listen, you two need to come to our house; bring James. We'll have a grand old time."

"Why don't you pop out one or two of your own, Hermione?" Harry ribbed. Hermione blushed.

"I don't think we'll be starting Weasley clan number two anytime soon."

"Pick a day, Hermione, and we'll be there," Ginny said. Hermione's head disappeared. "What are you going to do now?"

"I suppose we should go back through the shoebox."

"I've been through the shoebox, Harry. There's nothing left there that we don't know. You're just trying to get off of looking for Darren."

"He's probably dead, Gin. You heard Hermione!"

"Yeah, and I trust anything the Prophet says."

"Fine, fine, you win." Ginny smiled.

"I always do."

"You cheat," Harry moped, kissing his wife on the temple.

"You're going to look into this."

"I'll go to the Ministry tomorrow."

"Good boy."

AN: I know. Short. I know. Long time. I know. You don't care anymore. Review anyway.


	8. Mrs Evans

**Chapter Eight**

"Well?" Ginny said as soon as he walked in the door. "What'd they say?"

"There's no record of his death. He was assumed dead but the ministry can't declare someone dead until the Death Quill writes their name. There is no record of any address; past, present, or otherwise."Harry threw down his coat and slumped in his green arm chair by the fire. "He doesn't want to be found-"

"What do you mean, Death Quill?"

"Well, it's just like the Birth Quill. The Birth Quill registers the signature of each magical child born and then writes down their name and birth date for official records. It's how Minerva can send Hogwarts letters to magical children, like Hermione, whose families aren't inherently magical. The Death Quill works adversely in that it detects the termination of the wizard's unique signature upon his death." Ginny sat stunned listening to her husband.

"You had to look that up before you came home, didn't you?" she accused.

"Better; I called Hermione. You know me too well."

"Well, when you started using words like 'inherently' and 'adversely', I felt the need to call you out on it," she smiled and slid into his lap.

"The baby asleep?"

"Yeah, I'm about to wake him up and take him to the Burrow for the day." Harry looked away from his wife for a moment. She tilted her head and waited for him to collect his thoughts.

"Would you mind if I went to Petunia's instead?"

"No, Harry," she kissed his cheek and smoothed his hair, "I want you to get the answers you need."

* * *

Alone at his aunt's home, Harry suddenly felt out of place. He was a self-reliant adult returning to the place of his childhood abuse. He was sitting rather anxiously on Petunia's still beautiful and overly clean couch, careful not to drop a crumb of the perfectly made tea cake she had presented him.

"Harry! I'm so glad to see you again!" And Harry couldn't help but feel his nerves relax a little. She had really meant that, with all her heart. Before, he had been a nuisance but now, here he was, watching her crossing her pale, skinny legs and suck on her large teeth and he couldn't feel anything but her sincere regard for him.

No, Harry wasn't stupid. He understood he couldn't quite call it love but he still felt her acceptance and friendship; something he had never felt before Ron and Hermione, something he'd never felt in this house.

"Aunt Petunia," he said, fidgeting at the seriousness of his chosen topic of discussion, "I've been going through that box..."

"Ah, and have you found him?" she sipped a cup of tepid tea that Harry could smell clear across the room.

"Him?" Harry said, hastily swallowing a lump of cake. When he was a boy, Vernon and Petunia wouldn't let him have a piece of cake or any sweet unless it was a Dudley cast-off. Perhaps that's another reason why Dudley overate so much: to keep Harry from having the pleasure.

"Dervin or Darbin or whatever his name was," she waved her hand around as if trying to catch his name in the dust specks of the air. Harry took a moment to notice that her nails were once again manicured and gleaming, her clothes were fitted and stylishly proper for a woman her age. Her hair had been discreetly colored and her skin was smoother than he'd last seen. He felt a slight bit of warmth to know that his presence meant so much to her, that he brought life back to her.

"Darren," Harry supplied. "Yes, I found him. How did you know?"

"I _was_ here during summer, Harry. I saw her send her owls off to her friends. He'd sent her moving photographs all the time and our mother would go into absolute rapture over them. She thought they were the premiere wonder of the Wizarding world. She just needed to wait for Lily to turn seventeen to see the real wonders of the Wizarding world."

"Aunt Petunia-"

"I know; I diverge often, don't I?" Harry took another bite of her cake. "You want to know about that second summer; when Sev and Lily came home from Hogwarts." Harry swallowed his cake and felt his Adam's apple nod 'yes' in his throat. "When they came home, it was exactly one week after I had been home. I had been my parent's love and joy for seven days. They wanted to hear all about my friends, my studies, my little adventures and escapades but when Severus and Lily busted through the door with robes and wands and owls and cauldrons and moving photographs, well, I wasn't here anymore." Harry listened to her as she went back to her childhood.

_"Lily! Tell us all about it!"_ _Mother sat all crumpled and girlish on the couch,wanting to hear every details of Lily's life. Of course she did; Lily was her favorite. _

_"Oh, Mum, it's wonderful. All the magic and wondrous things it can do!"_

_"Really? Severus, come sit by me and help Lily," Mother beckoned to the lone boy with open, mothering arms and I could sense his affection for MY mother. He loved the attention, the affection, the acceptance he got from my mother. When I was eleven, I could begrudge him for wanting MY mother to love him. Eleven year old girls can be quite like that. I could use the excuse that I didn't yet know of his own mother. It's true. I didn't. Severus kept things like that locked away from Lily and I. Our childish hearts sensed that he wasn't happy but we couldn't quite pinpoint why._

_"Lily and I were sorted into different Houses there," he said factually but I could tell he was saddened by that. _

_"Houses?" my mother said, more eager to know of this strange new world than she had even been to listen to me describe same old muggle English boarding school._

_"Much like Halls or dorms at muggle school but they sort you by character traits." I tried to ignore the contempt I heard in Severus' voice when he said 'muggle school.'_

_"Mother, I'm what they call a Gryffindor and Sev's a Slytherin." And Lily and Sev went on and on about Gryffindors and Slytherins, House rivalries and the Quidditch House cup. It took hours and hours and Mother never moved more than to switch which leg she was sitting on. I was sulking in the corner for this whole time, hating Lily getting all the attention and wanting just as much to be part of her world, to go with her and Sev to Hogwarts, envious of her magic powers. Mother got up and started dinner just about when Severus went home. She set the food out on the table and they had already said grace before she even remembered to send Lily to find me for dinner. Lily found me sitting in the same armchair I had been in during her reminiscences and held out her hand._

_"Come now, Tunie, dinner's ready." Like a child! She was treating me like she was so much better because she had a magic wand and she could brew potions and she had Severus. I wanted to pout and be petulant but Lily said the 'magic' words. "Sev and I want to hear all about your year at school tomorrow. We hated that we couldn't send an owl to your school! Sev said he found a little grove of petunias out by the Forbidden Forest and he wanted to preserve one and send it to you..." She kept talking as I took her hand and she led me to the dinner table.  
_

TBC...

AN: I updated! All three people who care say "YAY!" I think I finally found what I wanted to do to begin with and how to get there. My dream that I had over a year ago is coming to fruition. The "to be continued" merely means that I am going to continue Petunia's reminiscences of that second summer in the next chapter.

Please review!


	9. Mr Evans

**Chapter Nine**

"Tomorrow never came, of course. Tomorrow was right back to what it had always been: Lily and Sev." She set her cup down a little shakily. Harry cleared his throat and let her reflect for a moment.

"Aunt Petunia, I-"

"Don't, Harry. I don't need pity. This was years ago and brought it all upon myself. You want to hear about Lily and Sev, not how I felt." She sighed deeply and continued her story of that summer when Lily was twelve years old.

_"Severus, how can you sit in that tree all day with that book? Come down now!" I shouted up to our neighbor boy. He had come home from Hogwarts with a new melancholy that Lily and I had never really seen before. I had asked Lily about it but she seemed to not know. Apparently, it wasn't practice to ask too deeply about the happening in another's House. He rolled his eyes at me and sighed like an old man. _

_"Tunie, I'm busy." His voice had become a bit more gravelly and tired. 'He was never this way at Hogwarts, Tunie,' Lily whispered to me at night. That summer, she told me all her secrets from Hogwarts. It was one of the reasons I could forgive her for being a witch and Severus' best friend; she confided in me like real sisters. She told me all about a terribly rude little 'git' named James Potter and how he stuck the end of Marion Grant's pigtail in a well of permanent rainbow ink. We would giggle into the night. Lily was like that; always smiles and laughter and fire. I think that's why she was born with the red hair and all I had was boring, mousy, muddy grey-brown. She had a fire and a passion for life and family and friends that you didn't find in everybody. She was a good student. Mother had been so proud when Lily brought home all sorts of 'O's for 'Outstanding.' I had decent grades but not like Lily. Severus had even brought his grade card over and Mother just fawn over her brilliant witch and wizard. She was so full of drive and spunk. Daddy would come home and say something about a room not cleaned or a magazine left in his armchair and Lily always had something witty and sharp to say. I _never_ had the gall to talk back to my Daddy the way Lily did. She respected his authority but she had a more equal relationship with him than I did. I tried once, that summer, to talk to Daddy like Lily did. _

_"Petunia Anne!" Daddy had yelled from the bottom of the stairs. I peaked meekly around the corner. "What is this?" I had left my roller skates at the front door caked with mud where Severus had pulled me through puddle. I opened my mouth to apologize but instead, I said _

_"Oh, Daddy, have you been out on my skates? You'll hurt your back, you know." Lily would say things like this and he would smile slightly and left her off with a pat on the head and a smiling reminder to leave muddy things outside. I was met with a deep frown and a bulging vein in his forehead. I was nearly whipped for my cheek that day and was grounded from playing with Lil and Sev for a week. That just shows how Lily was: she was the golden child. She was charming and beautiful and Daddy's girl and Mummy's favorite. I was just Plain Old Tunie. Even my name was substandard. Lilies were delicate and pure. The name rolled off the tongue beautifully, like a poem. Petunia forced you to scrunch your nose up when you said it; like it wasn't something you wished to talk about. No matter how pretty a Petunia was, I still felt like it wasn't good enough. _

"This just goes to show you, Harry, who your mother and Aunt Petunia really were. Your mother was everything you could have hoped for. She was beautiful and pure and loved and I was mean spirited and hateful. I didn't hate your mother, yet, though. She was my sister and for all her absented-minded faults that I took to be purposeful slights against me, she loved me and she was my sister.You were never wrong to believe that Lily was all that was good in this world. She was, she really was. I'm sure Severus has told you." Harry fidgeted a little.

"Let's just say Snape and I weren't precisely on speaking terms beyond scolding." Petunia's eyes just accepted this. She crossed her legs the opposite direction and went back to her now cold tea. Harry whipped out his wand and warmed her tea back up for her.

"Thank you, Harry. I'd forgotten how good it was to have magic around the house." She took a sip before going back to the topic at hand. "I can imagine Severus treated you about like I did?"

"Somewhat," Harry acquiesced.

"He was in love with her, you know," she said, her eyes not leaving the saucer in her hand.

"I know," Harry whispered.

"He was head over heels for her from the time they were eleven on. It made me insanely jealous. She had everything; the charm, the grace, the wit and the boys just fawned over her. She didn't want just any old muggle boy so she would turn them all away and they would sneer behind her back at me and ask if I was as much of a prude as my sister. I would snub my nose at them too. If they weren't good enough for Lily, then I wouldn't look twice at them." Petunia got really quiet and Harry could swear he heard the beating of her heart. She pushed aside whatever she was thinking to finish the story of that second summer.

"Severus, Lily and I spent the summer wrapped up in the games of childhood still. We still met at the swing set everyday and played hide and seek. The real story didn't start until they came home from their second year at Hogwarts."

AN: So, the next chapter. I know they are kind of boring because all they are are Petunia's memories but this is how I chose to tell Sev and Lily's story. And, of course, it's going to be mostly about Petunia because she can only tell it from her perspective but I believe she is the last person alive who can tell Harry about his mother and Severus. So, the next chapter is going to be the summer after Sev and Lily's Second Year and they will be 13. I don't know if this fits with canon or not. I don't really care. I'm not that interested in the minutiae.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I NEED THE EMOTIONAL SUPPORT. NO ONE IS REVIEWING CHAPTER EIGHT AND I AM STARTING TO LOSE THE DRIVE TO FINISH THIS STORY. No, this isn't a 'I'll abandon this fic if I don't get x number of reviews" threat. I just merely need some feedback to make it feel worthwhile.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW. SEVERUS WOULD WANT YOU TO!


	10. Mr Snape

**Chapter Ten**

"That third summer, before their Third Year, I met the Snapes for the first time. Severus hadn't come out of his house for a week after returning from Hogwarts and Lily was bored. Well, I say 'bored' because that's what she said with her mouth, but she's was worried.

"They had come home from Hogwarts with less smiles and cheer than that first year. Severus didn't even come in the door. He just saw Lily in with a sort sad wave of his hand and went home. Lily told Mother and I that he was tired because that stupid James Potter had been bugging him since school began. Lily always tried to play that down.

_"He's just angry because I won't let him hex Potter's bits off." Mother would mock gasp at Lily's reference but always overlook it. "He just wants to get home and get unpacked, Mummy." Mother took her precious daughter's word and went back to making dinner. _

_"Well, he'd better come by. He promised me a potion to help grow my azaleas and I haven't seen his grade card yet. I love to know how he does at Howgarts." Mother always seemed to mess up the name. Lily thought she was just being silly but I thought she did it purposely because Howgarts sounded more muggle. Maybe that was just my own wishful thinking that Lily was just like me. _

"Anyway, a week went by and no sign of Severus. Lily and I had never been to his house. He wouldn't let us come there. He was always over to our house but we couldn't go to Sev's house for dinner."

_"My mother's a terrible cook, anyway. She's not at all like your mother," he would say in his grave, adult voice. We didn't know it yet but his mother wasn't anything like our Mother. When we were ten and eleven, that was enough for us. But now, at the grand old age of twelve and thirteen, we had to know. Our adolescent curiosity got the better of us. We couldn't just trust Severus' word anymore. We had to see him._

"We decided we would go to Severus' house, even if we didn't know where he lived exactly. We knew what way Severus went when he left us everyday so we followed that. We found a street called Spinner's End and I thought it all looked far too muggle for it to be where Severus Snape lived. Severus was the most powerful, not to mention only, wizard I knew. I expect unicorns in the front yard and cauldrons brewing on the front stairs." She rose to refill the teapot before going on with her story. Harry felt like she didn't quite want him to know what was going to be said but he pushed his own doubts aside. He wanted to know. He wanted to know the good and the bad of his mother and Snape.

Petunia came back with fresh tea and a new slice of cake for Harry. She smiled at him when she gave him the plate and Harry felt like she was trying to mother like she should have the first time. She was trying to make amends with cake; Harry thought it was touching, not to mention working quite well.

_"You knock first, Lily," I whispered. We had been crouching in some nearby bushes for ten minutes, finally deciding which house was Severus' and how to go about getting to Severus himself. She stared at me, trying to figure out why I would suggest that. "You're the witch. Won't they be more welcoming to their own kind?" The words had almost stuck in my throat. I had to admit, aloud, that she was one of them. She was part of Severus' world and I wasn't. _

_"Not necessarily," she whispered. I rolled my plain muggle eyes at her._

_"You're scared of his mother, aren't you?" I tried to taunt. The truth was, I didn't want to knock on Severus' door much either. The house was frightening. We had decided it was most certainly haunted by a bad poltergeist. "Much worse," Lily had said originally, "than Peeves at school." _

_"I'm not scared of anything. I'm a Gryffindor," she said, like it meant something to a muggle. _

_"Well, Gryffindor, go knock on the door."_

_"You go, Tunie," she said, pushing my arm. _

_"Admitting your fear?" Lily refused to answer but I went anyway, a victorious little smirk on my face. I walked up to the door, not thinking of what I would find on the other side. I bounced up the stairs like a springy twelve year old girl. I rapt smartly three times, just like Mother had taught me was polite. I put on my best, most polite smile and waited for the door to open. When it did, I was scared of Lily and Severus' world for the first time._

Petunia stopped for a minute and Harry breathed deeply for the first time since the story had begun. She played with the hem of her dress for a moment, biting her lip like a timid girl. Harry had seen Hermione do it many times when she was frightened or uncertain. Harry did the only thing he could think to do: he took Petunia's hand and smiled at her. Her eyes were shiny with long forgotten fear and she took a deep, gasping breath to continue.

"She was terrifying, Harry; like something from a crypt. She may have been beautiful once, I don't know. Her eyes were all sunken and sullen, something like Sev's but much worse. I could see the very bones in her fingers, each joint sticking painfully out of the skin. Her hair was oily, just like Sev's had started to become ever since his voice had started to change, and lank. It was a color I didn't think could occur in nature; some mix of grey and watery brown or blonde. I was never quite certain. I thought at first she was the poltergeist Lily had scared me of. She was wearing some tattered, faded version of a summer dress. It was stained with dark spots I didn't wish to identify. She smelled of sweat and dirty hair. I tried to open my mouth to ask for Severus but her milky eyes stole my voice. She just sucked her lips into a thin line and waited. I tried to speak again but that was when _he _came."

_"Eileen, shut the damn door," he roared. Daddies weren't supposed to roar. Good Daddies asked loudly, angry Daddies shouted but Mr. Snape roared. I knew then, right then, that Severus wasn't in a good house. He walked by and I saw an older Severus. He had the black hair short and severe but I could see Severus in him. I was afraid that Severus would grow up to be like his father. He saw me in the doorway and turned on me. A smart girl would have run but my feet stayed still. I couldn't leave Severus with them. "And who the hell are you?" I wasn't accustom to being cussed at. Our Daddy didn't swear; least, not in front of his girls. _

_"I'm Sev's friend," was all I could get out with this man bearing down on me. I smelled something horrible on him and it wasn't until I was much older that I discovered it was the scent of brandy; lots and lots of strong, cheap brandy._

_"You aren't from that decrepit school, are you, girl?" I heard Mrs. Snape hiss a little between her teeth. _

_"No, sir," I whispered. _

_"Good, you're the kind of company he needs to keep. Keep him away from any funny kids you don't understand, hear?" He stepped closer to me. Severus had just come in the room. He must have thought his father was going to hurt me because he ran up, shut his eyes and grabbed my arm. He was pushing me out of harm's way, his back to his father. I knew he was protecting me from the blow he thought was going to come._

_"Where do you think you're going, boy?" Mr. Snape roared at his son._

_"Out, Father, with her. I'll be home before dinner." I could barely hear Mr. Snape mumble, "You better damn well be" as Severus dragged me away. He took me in the opposite direction from where I had left Lily but I didn't say anything and she didn't either. _

_"What were you thinking, Tunie?" Severus let go of my arm. I stumbled out in front of him._

_"I...we were worried."_

_"We?" Severus always had such a heavy air about him. I finally understood why. You can't be a child when you live like he does. I wanted to hug him and tell him he could live with us. I shoved my hands in the front pockets of my shirt dress. _

_"Lily was in the bushes?" Severus yelled. I could hear the undertone of his father's voice in that outburst and I shivered a little. His face softened a little. When I was twelve, I thought it was friendship that softened his face. I know now he was soothing me like a pet whose paw was accidentally stepped on. "She can't see that ever again." He wasn't even worried about me. I had been fooling myself that he protected me because he cared. He only cared for Lily. I nodded, hurt and defeated. He held his hand out to me and I took it, again trying to fool myself. "Let's go get her." _

"We went back to the bushes but Lily wasn't there. We went home to discover Lily had run away before the door ever opened and Severus carefully concocted a story about how he had been sleeping and that's why it took so long for us to return. I played along, because I couldn't hurt Sev. He was hurt enough at home. He left well before dinner that night." She shut her eyes. "We spent the rest of the summer like that. Severus would come almost everyday and leave well before dinner. Lily never questioned it. She was good like that, not simple, but good. I would sometimes look up to see Severus stare at me. He was reminding me of what she must never know; his secret shame that he shared with me." Petunia stopped talking and looked about her. "Speaking of dinner, Harry, you must be getting home to your family. That cake must have ruined your appetite."

AN: The Third Summer is complete. What did you think? I was commanded to update and I had this story all ready in my mind so I set to typing it out for you. Two updates in one day; how often do you get that?

PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! You saw what five reviews did to me! I wrote the longest chapter so far! Think of what ten could do! Or twenty!


	11. Darren: Part I

**Chapter Eleven**

Harry Potter woke up the next day to his wife shaking him. "Harry, wake up!" His eyes rolled open and blinked back shut. "Get up now!"

"What?" he whined, the bright light burning his sleepy eyes.

"There's a man outside, just sitting in my lawn chair!" Harry rolled out of bed.

"A man?" he said, pulling on a pair of pants and any random shirt he grabbed blindly.

"He didn't knock or anything!" Ginny was frazzled, making Harry laugh at how like her mother she really was. "He's just sitting there! Harry, do something!"

"I'm going, I'm doing!" Harry walked out the door. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, trying to say, "Excuse me, sir, I'm Harry Potter."

"I know who you are, son. I can see it in your eyes." Harry just yawned again.

"Care to share the knowledge?" The older man rolled his eyes goodnaturedly.

"The Savior of the Wizarding world doesn't cast the brightest _lumos, _if you know what I mean. It's early in the morning so I'll let it slide," he laughed with a wave of his hand. "I'm Darren Creevey." Harry was instantly awake.

"You're Darren Creevey!" he said, pointing at Mr. Creevey's face.

"Again, it's rather early." Darren Creevey had the air of Dumbledore. He was a genial old man with a smile. His stomach would have rivaled Slughorn's but he was more jovial and rosy. He had a green striped waistcoat and emerald green robes. A large gold pocketwatch was stuffed in the pocket and Harry had a feeling it was just as strange as Dumbledore's old watch. "I found out through a little bird that you were looking for me. I didn't want you to have to work to find me, so I came to you. A small contribution to the man that saved our society."

"Well, thank you. I wanted to ask about-"

"Your mother. I know." Mr. Creevey stood there for a moment watching Harry. Harry stood there, watching Mr. Creevey. "Would it trouble you to offer an old man a place to sit and, perhaps, the missus could make some tea?" Harry blushed a crimson not natural and started to stutter as the old man walked past him and into the house.

"Of course, Mr. Creevey, I didn't-"

"It's early and the young do love to sleep. By the way, I didn't know green and orange was an acceptable color combination. When I wore it years ago, your mother threw a small fit. I suppose times change. Just shows how the best ideas always come before their times." Harry was confused until he noticed his Chudley cannons jumper over some strangely colored green pants he didn't know he owned. They clashed horribly and loudly and Harry's face was almost near blue from embarrassment.

Ginny had dressed and put the tea on while Harry had been making a fool of himself.

"Ever seen a picture of your mother before, son? If you haven't, you surely are your father's son," Darren said as he accepted a cup and saucer from Ginny. Darren chuckled slightly as Ginny blushed and left the room to tend to her son.

"Mr. Creevey-"

"Your mother loved me dearly. I was the little brother she said she wished Petunia had been."

"Uh, Mr. Creevey-"

"It wasn't until we were nearly 18 that she said that, and I was a good three inches taller so, so much the little part, but she liked to imagine me as family. We meet as First Years, and became instant friends. Your mother wasn't very good as socializing with girls. She saw them as slightly too flighty for her tastes. Severus was her only true friend, besides me, of course. I suppose I was just consolation for the fact that Sev was Slytherin and I was Gryff but I took what I could." He stopped to sip his tea.

"Mr. Creevey-"

"Wonderful tea. Is the missus a Seer? However did she know I was so partial to lemongrass tea? Oh, I'm sorry, my boy. I fear I've been steamrolling you. You, obviously, have questions and I was just rambling." Harry was slightly flabbergasted. This man could outalk his Hermione.

"Mr. Creevey, I just want to know what you can tell me. Please, continue to ramble," Harry said, slightly awkwardly and for lack of anything else to say.

"Well, what other place is there but the beginning to start? I could start in the middle and incorporate but I have a feeling you're a rather linear thinker." Harry didn't know if he was any kind of thinker, really, but he hoped Mr. Creevey would start at the beginning. "We met on the train. Sev and Lily were looking for an empty compartment but the only one they could find had me in it. I don't suppose that's truly empty, then, is it?" Harry shook his head 'no'. "Sev wanted to keep looking but your mother drug him into the compartment and sat him down next to me.

"You'd have never know your mother was muggleborn. Sev had filled her in quite nicely. She and he just kept chatting it up about potions and charms and Houses and Quidditch and I didn't have the foggiest what was going on. When I announced my blood status, I expected Sev to walk out on me. I didn't expect for him to say,

_"Just like Lily." A nervous Darren Creevey fidgeted when the rather frightening Severus Snape spoke for the first time. Darren was rather small and mousy so the arrogant, pure blood Severus Snape scared the magic right out of him._

_"Oh, I knew it was a good thing we sat here, Sev. You can tell Darry here all about Hogwarts and magic. He was such a help to me, you know. He told me all about my powers and such." She was greeted by two sets of raised eyebrows. "What? Do I have cauldron cake on my face? Severus, don't look at me that way! What?"_

_"Darry?" the two boys said simultaneously. Lily huffed and stuck her tongue out. _

_"I was just being nice," she pouted. "See if I'm ever so nice to you, Severus." Severus mocked hurt by putting a superior hand to his breast. _

_"Don't give promises you can't keep, Lily."_

"You really looked up to Snape, didn't you?"

"I idolized him. He was a pure blood-"

"Actually, he was a half blood. His father was a muggle man." Mr. Creevey didn't seem too put off by this.

"It wasn't just his blood. It was really his knowledge of the magical community that I had been, rather unceremoniously, thrust into. I suspected, of course, because he was just a little to adamant about blood to truly be pure blood but he put on a good show. Of course, I'm getting ahead of myself. At this point, he never mentioned blood.

"We chatted the whole way to Hogwarts and even stood next to each other to be sorted. I was sorted into Gryffindor and couldn't miss the slight smirk on Sev's face. When Lily was sorted into Gryffindor, I couldn't miss his face paling a little. I asked him about it, a few years later, and he wouldn't tell me. Said he was just nervous because he knew with each passing letter, his name was closer to being called. I told him I think it's because he had wished Lily would have been in any other house so he wasn't obligated to hate her. This was our fifth year, just after their falling out. He had stolen some Firewhiskey from Slughorn and we had been indulging ourselves in the Come and Go Room. He just stiffened and threw back another two fingers of the poison. The whole business was messy but not near as messy as Sev was when he woke up in the morning. It had been our first time with anything stronger than Butterbeer and we didn't quite hold ourselves together well."

"Sounds like you and Snape were close," Harry said, slightly disbelieving it.

"We were, until..." Harry opened his mouth to push the story but Mr. Creevey started up again, talking about Lily. "Lily was my best friend. I loved her, more than anyone. I'd dare say even James, though, in a different way. We would sit in the corner of the Common Room and play Gobstones until dawn and fall asleep on the couches for just an hour before going to class. Everyone thought we were brother and sister, we were so close. It was my happiest times. She would round up Severus and we would sneak down to the kitchens and talk with the House Elves. Severus taught me how to fly on a broom. Lily taught me all the charms to make my clothes fit better and to clean my room faster. Your mother was as handy with a wand as she was a cauldron. She was a miracle, your mother.

"We made it three good years before anything happened. Your mother and Severus had really brought me out my shell. Your mother's the one who got me the camera and found the special potion used to make moving pictures. It was our Third Year before James got real bad on Lily. In Second Year, he just like to torment her as well as everyone else. It was Third Year when he singled her and Sev out. He was taken by the fact that she didn't like him. He had loads of women at his feet and he wanted her. She, of course, was always surround by Severus Snape. That's when the teasing had been the worse. James went too far that year. He attacked Severus on the Quidditch pitch after a match in which Gryffindor lost to Slytherin. Lily had come running down to congratulate Severus, running right to his arms. Severus caught her and lifted her up, Gryffindor scarf swirling in the air and all. I had been taking pictures of the match and couldn't resist the sight. I took a picture with Severus' laughing face resting against Lily's neck. It was the best picture I've ever taken. I even brought it today, because I knew you had to see." Darren Creevey took a moment to extract the picture from his waistcoat pocket and hand it to Harry. Harry knew exactly why it was his best work. It wasn't posed or awkward. It didn't feel like he was intruding on his mother's life anymore when he looked at this picture. His mother was showing him everything and wanted him to see all the things that were important to her and the things she loved. Harry stared at the picture while Darren finished the story.

_"Hey, kid," James said rather brusquely to his Yearmate. "Give me that camera." _

_"That's the way to talk to me, James," Darren bit out. _

_"Darvey, whatever your name is. Can I see the camera?" Darren stopped admiring his friends and faced James Potter. _

_"What do you want it for?"_

_"I'm going to rip the film out." By this time, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew had made their way to James. _

_"James, you shouldn't," was all Remus said on the matter. _

_"Better idea! Let's ram it down Snivellus' throat," Sirius chimed in, making matters worse. James' got that malevolent glint in his eye that only came when he wanted to take down Severus Snape. _

_"Guys, Mary Anne said there was going to be Butterbeer in the Common Room. Can't we just go drown our sorrows, eh, James?" Peter didn't like conflict so he always tried to avoid it. _

_"If none of you will help me, I'll teach Snape a thing or two on my own." He brushed his way pasted Darren, hell bent on taking Severus down a notch. Sirius trailed behind him like a happy little puppy while Remus was just sort of pulled along in the current. Peter cringed as he followed his 'friends.'_

tbc...

AN: Cliffy from Hell! Not really. I just ran out of steam (not to mention I'm a nursing student and I have an exam tomorrow so...) but most likely I will finish James' attack very soon. You shouldn't have to wait long. If you do, please review or PM me or something and let me know that I've been gone too long. I am a nursing student. You have no life but nursing school.


	12. Darren: Part II

**Chapter Twelve **

_"Hey, Snape! Get off her!" James ripped Severus away from Lily's embrace. _

_"What's your problem, Potter?" Lily screeched, reaching her hand out to Severus'. _

_"My problem is you're fraternizing with the opposing team!" _

_"The winning team," Severus said, slightly too smug for James' taste._

_"I'll make you eat those words!" _

_"Jamesy, not a good idea," Remus muttered from the sidelines._

_"Yeah, can't you just let it be, James?" Peter whimpered. Sirius was rolling his sleeves up, ready for a big showdown. Severus had puffed himself up and stared Potter in the eye. _

_"I won't let him hurt you, Lily," James said, seemingly trying to be chivalrous. A good front for the teachers, Darren supposed. _

_"Please, I'm more worried he'll hurt you," Darren called from beside Lily. Darren couldn't escape the look on James' face when he laughed and goaded Severus on to show him a thing or two. Severus' smirk was in place._

_"Severus, please, let's just go," she said, tugging on his arm. "Don't mind him. He's always been this way. Can we please just go?" She linked her fingers in his and James' eyes widened and bulged. "Please," she pleaded,"for me?" James was transfixed by their hands, Severus' fingers lightly skimming the fabric of Lily's skirt. It was too much to bear. Severus had let Lily led him away from the fight, his back turned to the Marauders. _

"I turned back just in time to see James' eyes go red before he hexed Sev from behind. Cowardly, it was. Remus and Sirius came up and restrained him, shouting things like 'think what you're doing, man!' and 'you could have hit Lily!' James had to be physically dragged away while Lily and I tended to Severus. We never were quite sure what your father had hit him with. We couldn't imagine anything it could be. All we knew was that it caused Severus a great deal of pain, physically pain. It took Lily and I two hours to find any counter-curse to help him. The pain, though, only subsided and became intermittant. It never fully went away. We think James' rage had mixed with his magic and made a simple hex a lot more lasting.

"It was a theory your mother had been working on for the Aurors when she died. She believed that all magic, even magic done with wands, was tainted by emotions. They tried to tell her that wands stripped the emotion away and allowed only raw magic. Of course, that was just poppy-cock. Even the Death Eaters will admit that emotion is critical to the strength of a spell. Wands only help increase the control you have over the spell."

"Bellatrix Lestrange once said something like that to me. But how does that explain Voldemort?"

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had emotions, Harry, just not pleasant ones; much like James that day."

"Did you hate my father?" Harry asked uncertainly. He had always seen his father as a bit of hero, despite all the things he knew his father had done to Snape.

"Boy," Harry felt his heart sink a little. He didn't want to hear about how his mother's best friend hated his father. "I did, then. He changed when he grew up. I feel bad, telling you about your father when he was a bastard, if you'll excuse my language, but you need to know the whole story. I'm sure Remus and Sirius," Darren spat Sirius' name out rather roughly, "have told you have his charm and wit but someone has to tell you the whole story." Harry gulped down the anger in his throat and nodded slightly.

"I don't know what Lily would have told you, son, so I'll tell you everything. This isn't the future she would have wanted. This is the future she worked so hard against."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked suddenly.

"Let me tell the story in order, boy. This discussion comes later. If you want to really understand your mother and father, then you need to know all the facts before you hear the things you really want to know." Harry just nodded dumbly and let the man proceed. "Your mother was furious with James for the rest of the year over that. He tried his best to apologize to her but she wasn't listening. She was stubborn that way. You know, it took James four years to get her to accept his apology. Good thing your father was persistent." Darren chuckled a bit. "Not much else happened that year. Your father stayed on the down low after incident. It had happened in March or so, so he didn't have to hide for long. Lily and Sev went home and I had to go back to my parents for another summer of weed pulling." Darren sighed and pinched his nose in memories Harry could relate with quite well. "When they came back the next year, it seemed something was quite off about them. They wouldn't tell me much about it. I suppose Petunia would know. Lily did say she had something to do with it."

"Did you know my aunt Petunia?"

"Why, yes. Lily brought me home one summer and I met your grandparents and Tunie. I think it was a sort of set-up, though. I'm pretty sure your mother was trying to tie me up with Tunie...or vice versa. Either way, it utterly backfired. Ask Tunie about that one too. How is Tunie, might I ask?"

"She's better now. Her husband died not to long ago."

"Vernon's dead?" he said thoughtfully. Ginny had come in with a fresh pot of tea and some lemon-orange pastries. Darren smiled quite charmingly at her and Harry noticed his wife blush a littler more. Darren winked at her as she walked away, savoring more than the pastry, Harry thought, unamused.

"You knew my uncle as well?" Harry should have known better than to be surprised. His mother and aunt's lives seemed to get more and more intertwined.

"Why, yes. Your mother took me home the summer after our sixth year. Something had gone wrong between, not only Lily and Sev, but Severus and Petunia. Don't much about that one either. You can ask Tunie when we get to that part of the story." Darren yawned quite loudly.

"Well, I must be off."

"Do you want your picture back?"

"No, my boy. Keep it. Let it remind you of your mother. Mrs. Potter, it's been lovely, very lovely," Darren took her hand and kissed it. Harry rolled his eyes. "I fear I've imposed on you for far too long. Ta, all!" Darren was half way down the Potter walkway before Harry called out.

"You have nephews, you know," Darren stopped in his tracks. "Colin died in the war but Dennis is still alive. He'd like to see you. Dress as a muggle, if you go. He married a muggle girl; they've got a couple kids. They'd love to meet you." Darren's head hung down for a moment. Harry couldn't see his face but watched as he raised his hand and waved.

"So nice to meet you, son. So long!" And Darren Creevey apparated away.


	13. Ron

**Chapter Thirteen**

"Hermione! Where are you? What are you up to? You're pregnant, aren't you?" Ginny came stomping through the house, hell bent on finding her sister-in-law.

"Geez, Gin, destroy the surprise," Ron said, suddenly turning a little pale.

"Wait, you mean I'm right?" she squealed, clapping her hands and jumping up and down. Harry took James from his wife's arms and watched as Ginny flung herself all over her brother. "I can't believe it! I'm pregnant too! Our kids will go to Hogwarts together! They can be the best of friends!" Ron and Harry's eyes flew up to mean each other.

"Wait, Gin, what do you mean, you're pregnant too?" Harry said slowly.

"Damn, I ruined that surprise too." Harry got that goofy grin on his face; it matched the one he had when Ginny had told him about James and was strikingly similar to Ron's face at that precise moment. The boys ran to each other and engaged in a man hug, not caring that Ginny and Hermione had been squashed somewhere in the middle.

"Boys, boys, boys!" Hermione coughed, "Oxygen for the pregnant women, please!" The boys released their wives, still looking loopy. Ron ran off to the kitchen and Ginny followed, showing that Weasleys really did think alike.

Harry sat down next to his Hermione, his loopy smile shining on her lovely face. His Hermione; pregnant. He threw his arm around her and hugged her close to his body.

"A baby!" he sighed, watching her rosy cheeks glow and shine with joy emulated on his own face. "I can't believe it, Hermione."

"I can't either. I'd never thought... never dare to wish we could have a baby so soon. A baby," she sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Another child, a family, a big one!" he smiled and smelled the fresh scent of her hair.

"Everything you ever wanted, Harry," she sighed.

"Not everything," the smile slipped from his face. "Hermione, I've been talking to Aunt Petunia, to Darren Creevey, reading letters, going through shoeboxes. I've found out so much about my mother and Severus but it's not finished yet. There is so much more to know..."

"But?" she added for him.

"But I'm not sure I can hear it all, Hermione." Harry sighed and rubbed his free hand over his face. "I'm not sure I can listen to this."

"Oh, Harry," Hermione cooed.

"Hermione," he sighed. "Tell me what to do."

"Harry," she said, in a serious but loving voice, "I can't tell you what to do. I can only tell you what I would do. Harry, you know me. I have to know it all. Learn your mother's story, Harry, so you can understand your own."

"You'll be a wonderful mother," he smiled at her. Her own smile slipped from her face and she turned away from him.

"I'm not so sure, Harry."

"Why? You'll be fair and kind, loving, firm but not strict, wonderful, smart," he turned her to face him, "beautiful."

"I never had little brothers and sisters, Harry. I was an only child. I don't have any experiance."

"Ron has loads with his brothers and sisters. Just follow his lead. You won't be alone. You think Mrs. Weasley is going to let you actually raise this grandchild? We never saw James for the first four months of his life." The laughed a little but the cloud of doubt still hung over Hermione's face. "Look at me, Hermione. I never knew a parent's love. Sure, I have Mrs. Weasley and Sirius and all but they were only here for a short time or when I was older. I never thought I'd be a good father because I didn't know a father's love but look, I couldn't love James more. When this baby is born, it will be hard but you'll persevere. The only important thing is to love it, Hermione, and be grateful for everyday it knows that you do."

"Thank you, Harry," Hermione said, a few tears rolling down her cheeks. He brushed them away with his thumb and laid a kiss in her hair.

"Now," he smiled, standing and offering her his hand, "if I know the Weasleys like I do, Ginny's cooked up a storm and Ron's flooed the whole family to make the announcment."

"He better not! Not without me!"

"Please, I think Charlie knew in Romania about James before me." The pair entered the kitchen, smelling food and hearing the fire roar.

AN: I know it's short and partially filler but I wanted to establish timeline and a relationship between Harry and Hermione.


	14. Tunie

Chapter Fourteen:

"Harry," Petunia said, the same awkwardly polite voice he had heard for the past two months. Harry still felt like she wasn't entirely comfortable around him yet. He didn't expect her to be; he was hardly entirely comfortable himself. However, he wanted to feel that comfort. He wanted it to feel like coming home instead of returning to jail.

"You have to finish the story, Aunt Petunia," he said, sitting down on her sofa. "Don't worry about tea or asking me about the family. Just...tell me the rest."

"You've talked to Darren, haven't you?" Harry just nodded.

"Then, you'll have to know about that night." Harry didn't remember Darren talking about a certain night but let Petunia talk.

_"Severus!" fourteen year old Petunia cried out. It had been another day in their lives; just the same as it had been since second year. Severus would come to their house, lay about with Lily around the house, get smothered with love from their mother and leave well before dinner. Tonight, however, Petunia Evans was going to make a head-on collision with life. She ran out behind Severus, Lily tucked away in the attic with her school trunk. He stopped and looked at her like she was a stranger. _

_"Tunie?"_

_"Severus, I-" she looked to the ground. "Are you very much in love with Lily?" He stalked off into the woods that led to his house and Petunia followed him. "Well, are you?" _

_"Why are you asking such inane questions, Tunie?" _

_"I need to know." She reached out and grabbed his arm gently in her small hand. "Are you very much in love with Lily?" Severus was fifteen years old but he felt five. He looked up at the girl he had known his whole life. If he couldn't trust her, who could he trust? He opened his mouth to answer but only found it covered with Petunia's lips. He pulled back and pushed her away from him. _

_"What the hell was that, Petunia?" he hissed as he wiped his mouth on his sleeve.  
_

_"I told you," she said, tears in her eyes, "I had to know." He stared her, knowing whatever he said next would hurt her feelings. _

_"Tunie, I-" she started crying. Severus felt the little piece of him that loved her hurt and so he held out a hand. She took it, again just kidding herself into believing she could be loved. "You're my friend, Tunie. My friend. So I have to tell you the truth. I do love Lily. Very much. More than I can say right now. She's been my greatest support." Petunia ripped her hand out and his and slap him hard. _

_"She doesn't even KNOW!" Petunia cried, alluding to the life Severus hides at home. _

_"I don't need her to."_

_"Well, maybe she'd love you too if you did, instead of James Potter!" Petunia started to stomp away but Severus caught her arm. _

_"Tunie, wait! What do you know?" he growled, holding her arm just a little too roughly. _

_"Nothing," she said meekly, "I only said that to hurt your feelings." Severus let go of the girl and walked off towards his house, leaving her to cry her broken heart out on the grass.  
_

"Aunt Petunia-"

"No time for sympathy. You said, you had to hear the rest of the story," she stopped to wipe her nose on a handkerchief. "Nothing else was said between Severus and I for the rest of that summer. In August, they went back to Hogwarts for their Fifth Year and I went off to boarding school. Then, towards the end of the school year, I got the letter. The worse letter I have ever read. It was smudged and wrinkled and written hastily with evident emotion. I opened it and threw myself down on my bed to read it-

_Tunie, _

_Worse possible day of my life. I will never forgive Severus Snape as long as I live. He's a horrible person, Tunie. How did we ever like him? I can't stand this....this not knowing. I won't just wait around for him anymore. He said something bad about me today, Tunie, and he can never apologize for it. He promised. He promised and he broke that promise. He made some horrible friends with those evil Slytherins and they've put bad ideas in his head, Tunie. My roommates are telling me he's practically breaking down the common room door, asking for me. Nothing James has ever done to me has ever made me feel as bad as this. Tunie, Snape is no longer our friend. He can't come to our home. I won't stand to be treated like this and won't stand to see you treated like this. I don't care that he's rich and a pureblood and everything we're not. I hate him. I hate Severus Snape. I don't want to talk about this again. I'm so glad I still have you, Tunie. _

_Love, Lils. _

"It was like he was rejecting me all over again but I still loved him. I loved him for all he represented. He represented the magical world, he represented intelligence and strength and everything that was a boy to me. So, when Lily told me she hated him, I just thought 'how stupid.' Do you see now, Harry, why your mother was the good one of us? Even in declaring she hated Severus, she was the good one because I hated her for it. And in my petty mind, I thought, 'this is my chance. Maybe Severus will love me.' What a fool!"

"Aunt Petunia, did you ever discover what the fight was about?"

"No, Lily never spoke of it and I could never get it out of Severus."

"My dad publicly humiliated Snape that year. He called him names and turned him upside down, showing everyone his underwears. When Mum came to help him, he called her a mudblood, said he didn't need her help. She turned on him. She told called him the same name that my dad did and left. Snape told me she never spoke to him again after that."

"Over something so stupid!" Petunia cried. "Lily wanted a Prince Charming. She thought she had one. Sev had never hurt her feelings before. He broke the dream. I just suppose she didn't love him like he loved her. Sev would have forgiven her. He would have continued to ignore Potter and his friends for her. God, so stupid, Lily! If you loved him, you would have forgiven him!"

And suddenly, it all sank into to Harry. His mother and father, Aunt Petunia, Snape, Voldemort- would any of it happened if his mother had forgiven Snape that day? Harry stood quickly.

"I have to go."

"But I thought you wanted to hear the rest of the story."

"I need to talk to Darren. I need to know something you can't tell me before we go on." He walked over and placed a quick kiss on her cheek.

"I'm sorry. I have to go. Goodbye, Aunt Petunia." She murmured a small goodbye as Harry walked towards the door. "Oh, one last thing," he said with a knowing grin, "Ginny's pregnant." And Harry got to see the rapturous joy on his Aunt's face before he Disapparated away.


	15. James

Chapter Fifteen:

Harry didn't know how to contact Darren but he didn't have to. In a very Dumbledoreian move, Darren was already sitting in the lawn chair in front of the Potters' home when he Apparated there.

"I take it you know," was all he said before standing and walking towards the house.

"Darren, it's unbelievable," Harry sputtered out. "Seven years I lived with all the secrets and the lies. I fought him year after year and it never occurred to me."

"I know, my boy, I know," Darren sighed, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder. "It's amazing when we discover that our lives are very interconnected." He sat in the same chair he had before, a weary sort of look on his face. "It's amazing to discover that our choices are not our own."

"Darren, what does it all mean?" The older wizard sighed and rubbed his waistcoat.

"It means you've discovered the answer you've been searching for since you were eleven years old. Why did this happen? Why me? It all happened because of choices made before you were born, because of the actions of people you've never met. You know about why Voldemort became Voldemort. You know about his mother and his lust for power and his deep seeded need to belong and be admired and accepted. Now you know all the little threads that drew it together. You know about how your mother discovered she was a witch. You know about her life with Severus. You know about your father, his friends, the torment they inflicted on him. You know about the fight."

"I had already known about the fight but now I understand it. I understand how heartbroken Snape must have been on that day. How shallow my mother was!"

"Don't say that about your mother. She wasn't shallow. She was upset. She was terribly, terribly upset. I spoke to her, that night Severus slept outside the door."

_"Hey, Lils," Darren called up from the bottom of the stairs. "No one else is down here. Come talk to me." It was nearly midnight and the fire was starting to fade. He heard the door creak and the stairs groan as she came down."Hey, Lils."_

_"Oh, Darren, I can't do this!" she burst into more tears and threw herself on the couch. _

_"Do what, Lils?" he spoke in a small and quiet voice._

_"I can't choose between." Darren didn't need to ask._

_"You have to, babe." _

_"I can't! Darren, Severus is...was," she added with a sniffle, "my best friend. We've known each other for years. But I don't love him. Not the way he loves me." Darren sat beside her, rubbing the hair away from her eyes. _

_"We're only fifteen. Don't make this life or death." _

_"I feel like it is, Darren. You know Severus' little friends have been waiting to get a hold of him. What if..."_

_"It won't happen like that."_

_"It will! Severus will feel betrayed."_

_"If he really loves you, he would get past the betrayal, if only to see you happy."_

_"Why did it have to be James?! Of all the boys to love..." _

"She was torn up over it, son. She loved your father and Severus, just not in the same ways."

"She shouldn't have shown it like that. She shouldn't have taken James' side when he was bullying Snape."

"Maybe she shouldn't have. You have to realize, Severus did insult her as well." Harry sat very still for a moment.

"Why did she love my father?" Darren sighed and looked down at the hands on his pocket watch.

"Your father was just as much a man as you or I. He loved but not perfectly. He loved Lily very much. And it was jealousy towards Severus for having her to himself for so long and so often that drove your father to do a lot of what he did. Sirius and the lot just picked up on his cue without much for the reasoning."

"So, he wasn't always like this?"

"No, mostly to Severus. He only tried to make himself the big man around Severus, which only made him small. I didn't like your father because of this but I was biased. I thought Sev was the better man. Lily did too. That's why she always stuck up for Severus...until Severus shattered her illusion."

"What happened then?"

"Lily was going to talk to Severus the next day but he wouldn't so much as glance at her. She felt her heart break again, she told me. I tried to talk to Sev after that."

_"Hey, Sev," Darren said meekly to his friend. He found Severus sitting alone on the floor in the Room of Requirement. He sat down beside the sullen boy. He smelled the faint hint of fire whiskey but didn't say anything. _

_"If she sent you," the boy slurred, "I don't want to hear it." _

_"She didn't." Severus produced the bottle of fire whiskey and took a long gulp. Darren grabbed the bottle and emulated his friend._

_"Lucius was right," he spat. _

_"About what?"_

_"Her. Said that she would run off to the blood traitor any minute now. That I was a _fool_ to stick around." Another swig. The bottle was getting empty.  
_

_"I don't think you were a fool." Both were more than half drunk at this point, ready to fall._

_"Of course you wouldn't. You're a stupid," drink, "foolhardy," drink, "stubborn ass," drink, "Gryffindor." _

_"Just like her," Darren passed out from alcohol.  
_

_"Lucius was right," was all Severus could mumble before he passed out too._

To Be Continued...

AN: Please review. I'm really, honest to Pete, begging you.


	16. Severus: The End

Chapter Sixteen:

"Darren," Harry said slowly. "You once said my mother worked hard against this?"

"Yes," Darren breathed in deep and heavy. "Your mother saw this coming. She did her best to circumvert it. She tried to get James to treat Severus better and tried to talk to Severus but they both were too stubborn. They ignored her and it ended up hurting only her in the end."

"So, what happened?"

"That year was awful. Severus stopped talking to me too. Your mother was in love and she loved the time she spent with James, but you could tell it was killing her to see Sev sitting with Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Black, Goyle, Crabbe...she knew who they were and what they were doing. They were all part of this Pureblood movement that was taking over the school. Your mother knew that there was a war coming. She could feel it brewing in the air. She wasn't expect Voldemort, per say, but she was expecting something. That's when she started researching the link between emotions and spell casting. It was a charms paper she wrote in seventh year that got her into Auror training." Harry watched Darren's eyes still. "She was brilliant, your mother. Really, she was." Darren stopped talking for a moment and Harry watched as he breathed in and out, composing himself to go on. "She started her research after Auror training with the Unforgivables. You had to muster the right amount of emotion to cast a real Unforgivable. Without it, the spell would just fizzle out. Dumbledore, I'm sure, has told you it was love that protected you from Voldemort. That was because your mother believed that, to counterattack an Unforgivable, you had to have an equal amount of the opposite emotion, love. She cited acid-base neutralization and all kind of crazy Muggle stuff that she heard from Petunia but she saved you. She saved you because she had more love than Voldemort had hate in his body for you. I told you she was brilliant." Harry smiled, thinking of how much he would have loved his mother and her brilliant mind. It would be a lot like how he loved Hermione.

"That school year ended very badly, Harry. Very badly. Severus was living almost exclusivly with the Slytherins, not speaking to her or me. Your mother knew he was joining the race war, taking the side he belonged to, leaving her behind. When Voldemort rose to power shortly after, she knew he was one of the Death Eaters. There is every thread of the story. Voldemort became Voldemort. Now you know why you were the chosen one. If this had all come out for Severus to love your mother, who knows? Neville might have been the boy who lived. You could have been Harry Snape. Maybe the prophecy would never have existed? Maybe Dumbledore would have defeated Voldemort much sooner. It's so many ifs and could haves. Those don't matter. Now you know the why for this outcome. You know your place in history."

"Darren, you said you met my Aunt Petunia?"

"Oh, yes, that was seventh year. I came for about a week. I was suppose to take her mind away from this Vernon Dursley of hers. She had just taken up with him and Lily didn't like him for anything. He was very entitled, she said. Thought he was the best thing to ever eat sliced bread. He didn't know about your mother, just that Aunt Petunia called her a freak and told him that Lily was nothing like them. She was right. Vernon didn't need much more than that. I went home after a week of watching Petunia and Lily stare at each other over dinner plates and Lily write long letters to James in Devonshire." Darren stood, knowing his part of the story was told.

"Thank you, Darren. For everything. For telling me everything."

"It's no more than you deserve, my boy." They shook hands and Darren walked to the Potter's front foyer. "By the way, Dennis' boys look just like he and Colin did," he smiled in departure and Harry knew he would see no more of Darren Creevey.

* * *

Harry went to Aunt Petunia's house no more than a day after his last talk with Darren. She was expecting him, knowing the story had to be finished.

"Aunt Petunia," he smiled as he kissed her cheek. She laid an old hand on his face and smiled.

"I know, I know. You just want to know." She led him to her couch and sat him down before taking his hand in hers. "The summer after the fight, Lily came home. I couldn't get a word out of her except I needed to stay away from Severus now. I had to stay away from him. I wasn't to go to his house. I wasn't to speak with him. She wouldn't tell me why. I fought her, screaming that he had insulted her, not me. It wasn't my fight. But she just looked at me like I was simple and told me to 'stay put like a good girl'." Aunt Petunia looked at Harry, waiting for the disapproval to show in his eyes at her hateful tone. Harry just squeezed her hand lightly.

"The whole summer, we didn't speak. We would pass each other in the hallway like strangers. I saw those letters to James she sent out at all hours. I figured this James had poisoned her, that he was turning her mind and that's why she was so against our childhood friend. I was starting to decide I didn't like wizards very much at all." Harry knew this was the final leg of his story. He was learning why his childhood had been so bleak, why Petunia had hated him so.

"Lily told mother one night of some bad business going on in the wizarding world. That she didn't like where things were going and that Severus was going to be a part of it. My mother cried that night like I had never seen her cry before. Lily said that bad things were going to happen to people who weren't purebloods and that she was going to fight on the side of love and all sorts of romantic hero nonsense. Mother wouldn't hear any of it. Refused to listen to Lily talk of fighting in some blood war in the wizarding world. Lily had been a muggle before she had been a witch. Lily looked at Mother so sadly.

_"How can you ask me to go back?" Lily said quietly. _

_"How can you ask me to lose you?" her mother sobbed into her handkerchief. "You are my daughter, Lily."_

_"I know, Mother, but I'm going to be an adult in my world. The world I belong to. I can't just came back and give up everything I've worked for in the wizarding world for fear of it. I want to be an Auror. I want to save wizards and witches like me from dark magic. I want to fight hate with love, Mother. It's what you taught me." _

_"I can't lose you."_

_"I can't promise you won't. Just...trust me on this." _

"My mother sobbed into Lily's shoulder for an hour after that. She went back to Hogwarts to start her final year then. Severus wasn't spoken of aloud all summer. She graduated after another year of silence between us and came home. She told Mother that she wanted to marry this James Potter. Mother flipped her lid, of course. Lily didn't tell Mother she wanted to get married so quickly because she was afraid of Voldemort and of the war. That she was afraid of dying before she was ever in love. I heard her tell all this to the Creevey boy later that summer. But I'm skipping something. It was the night I saw Severus for the last time."

_"Petunia, don't stay out too late."_

_"I won't, Mother. Just going to for a walk." What she wasn't telling her mother is that she was going to find Severus. She couldn't do this. She could let Lily break his heart and then leave him at home with his mother and father. Lily didn't know, but she did and she had to check him. She came straggling out from the bushes across from Severus' door. Mulling aorund outside were several frightening looking figures in black cloaks and silver masks. She didn't think they had seen her but they had. They all seemed so much older and so evil. She could almost smell the hate radiating off of them. She crouched back in the bushes but the boys grabbed her arms and pulled her out. _

_"Well," the tallest one said in his smooth, chilling voice, "look what we have here. A muggle!" he spat on the ground. Petunia knew what that word was. These boys were wizards, like Severus. Maybe if she told them she knew Severus, they would let her go! She opened her mouth to speak but was stopped when a girl's voice cracked out. _

_"Should we kill her, Lucius?" Another boy came up and pinched her arm. _

_"Can I at least have a piece of her first, Bella?"The girl hissed but didn't stop him from squeezing Petunia's bottom once. She squeaked out rather sharply before another tall figure in black cloaks grabbed her. _

_"She's mine," the one holding her said. She recognized his voice as Severus. "She's an annoying, nosy little muggle girl," as he said these things, the venom spit from his lips and sprayed her arms. He held her tighter, causing her to breathe in raspy gasps. "I ask for the pleasure of ridding the world of one more muggle vermin, Lucius." The tall, smooth figure nodded his head and Severus dragged her into the bushes. He threw her down and pulled his mask off. _

_"Tunie, what are you doing?!"_

_"I wanted to see you. Severus, what-" He came close to her and put a finger to her lips. _

_"Quiet, listen. You have to stay away. My friends..." he stopped and looked back. He smacked her across the face. She yelped and drew back from him. "If they find out I didn't kill you, they'll kill me." He grabbed a rock nearby and said a spell over it. "This will take you home. Don't come near me again, Tunie."_

_"But, Severus-"_

_"I don't want them to kill you, Tunie. I'm sorry." He saw a squirrel on the ground not to far from them. He pointed his wand at it and a terrible green light flashed from the end. The squirrel fell over dead, its spirit just vanquished from it. She felt a jolt and the rock took her back to her back yard. She snuck in the back door and went to her room to cry herself to sleep. _

"Soon after that, I took up with your uncle Vernon. He was pompous and full of himself and he hated anyone that wasn't like him. I knew he would keep that world away from me. He treated me right and I told him that my sister was a freak. It created a world I felt safe in. It was a world away from magic, away from wizards, away from your war. When your mother died and that Albus Dumbledore dropped her off, it was like your war had come right back into my house. That's why I hated you so, Harry. You represented your mother, the one I was jealous of. You represented the world that took Severus and Lily away from me. You represented the war that scared me to death. You represented terrible wizards who wanted me dead because I wasn't one of them, no matter how much I had ever wanted to be. You were all the childish fears of my past in the flesh. And I'm so sorry I wasn't strong enough to overtake them."

"It's alright, Aunt Petunia. I understand now. But you kept me alive, and that's more than some would have."

"Oh, Harry. You are so much like your mother. You have her spirit in you."

"I'll bring Ginny and James around to visit soon. I heard Amanda's going to have a son?"

"Yes," she smiled breathlessly. "I don't deserve this family, Harry."

"I think you have a little of my mother's spirit in you too, Aunt Petunia. You have the same goodness she had. You just hid it for a long time." Aunt Petunia smiled but it faltered.

"Harry..." she started, her voice sounded hollow. "Whatever happened to Severus?"

"Well, he joined the Death Eaters; those were the masked men you saw him with. He heard a terrible prophecy about their leader, Voldemort, that made his leader kill my mother and father. After he heard that he caused Lily's death, he went to Dumbledore and asked for him to help him end Voldemort. He worked on the good side, in Lily's stead, for nearly twenty years. He was a double spy and a good one. He taught Potions at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He taught me a few lessons on other subjects," he snorted. "And he... he died in the Second War at the Battle of Hogwarts, protecting me like my mother years before." Petunia took his face in her hand and kissed his forehead before she began to cry.

* * *

Eleven Years Later

"_Albus Severus, you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew._"

THE END

AN: Yes, I know. I've been writing this fic for, oh, two, three years? I'm sad to see it go but glad at the same time. I feel like this was a great piece. If you don't know, the whole point of this fic was my way of explaining that one line Harry told Al at the platform that day. Severus wanted Harry to know his story. I think Harry had to known the whole story, of Petunia, and Lily, before he could name his son Albus Severus. So, I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I have.

Much love, MrsVC


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